On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her message rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where you can find fact-based and largely trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State Amid a Business Battle
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
The Additional Layer: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
An Outcome of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu stated.
The Core Challenge and a Way Ahead
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“Our current system is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Policies that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN must not be tools in the newest merger game.
